~ Chapter 47: Friendly talk (Part 1) ~

[Kataryna's point of view]

The day after the duel between Alkelios and Draejan, I went to visit the Third Princess. She expressed her thanks for my desire to support her through these tough times. Those were the honey-filled words any noble or royal would have said in her position.

“Just to be clear, with me, you drop the political act.” I warned her, cutting through her mask before it annoyed me too much.

She gulped and then nodded.

“To be honest, I didn't know what to do... I was at a loss in regard to my political standing, but with you at my side, I may still have a chance at staying just above the floating line. Those who have Breakthrough Awakened individuals under them are not that many and the politicians in our kingdom are like sharks when it comes to... collecting them.” she said and then let out a sigh “I apologize beforehand for whatever inconvenience these people may cause.” she bowed to me.

I nodded.

“What of Alkelios and Seryanna?” I asked.

She knitted her brow and then looked down “I haven't gotten the chance to speak with either of them since yesterday's incident.”

“Sister didn't answer the door even after I knocked on it for half an hour.” Kleo expressed her worry.

I let out a sigh and rubbed the back of my head.

“I had a feeling this might happen. Well, I'll go talk with them...” I said.

“Please do... I'll leave my friend in your hands.” the Princess said.

“Friends.” I corrected her and then left.

Half an hour later, after I managed to find Seryanna's room in this overly complicated Palace, I opened her door and entered her room. It was located at the first floor on the east wing. This area was reserved strictly for the knights, while the rooms of the servants were on the ground floor.

Inside, I saw a simple bed with cotton bedding, a writing desk to the left, and a small closet for storing various clothes one may need to wear at the Palace. The dragoness in question was sitting at the table by the window and looking out at the passing clouds.

Her eyes lacked the energy of life just like when I last saw her. It was as if she had given up on every last bit of hope and couldn't see a way to take it back.

The Seryanna right now was one I found to be... disappointing.

“Still drowning in self-pity?” I asked her as I walked up to her and stopped next to the table.

“I think I remembered locking the door...” she mumbled.

I blinked and looked back at... the wreck.

“Doors are cheap for Royal Knights, right? Just get a new one, besides, you didn't answer when I knocked.” I shrugged and looked back at her.

“You didn't knock.”

“Details.” I then placed my hand on her head and released a wave of cold.

“W-What are you doing?!” she flinched and jumped back, landing on her bed.

She was breathing fast, and there were a few icicles on top of her head now.

I smirked.

“Looks like there's still some light in there.”

Blinking surprised, Seryanna brushed the ice out of her hair.

While she did this, I took a chair and sat down in front of her, one leg over the other.

“So, care to talk?” I asked with a smile.

“About what?” she glared at me.

“Alkelios.” I replied.

When I said this, she looked away and gathered her knees at her chest.

“There's nothing to talk about.” she mumbled.

“Oh really?” I said raising an eyebrow.

The air around the room began to turn cold. She glared at me, but she stubbornly refused to talk and pulled a blanket over her shoulders.

I remained like that and didn't say a thing for several hours until her stomach started to growl.

“Hungry?” I asked her.

She poked out her head out of her cocoon of blankets and glared at me. It was so cold, I could see her breath turning to steam. If I could compare her to something, that would be a newborn whelp as it poked its head out of its egg and took a peek at the curious world around it. In a way, she was cute, especially the way she was pouting back at me.

“No.” she grumbled and then returned to her blanket cocoon.

I giggled, but I didn't leave.

A few more hours passed by and when it was starting to turn dark outside, she finally said a few words.

“Why are you still here?”

“I'm curious about this new critter I found. It lives in a cocoon of blankets.” I giggled.

“Not funny.” she mumbled and poked her head out a little.

My tail was waving in the air, moving up and down at my side. I was having fun with this redhead dragoness.

Several minutes later of constant glaring, she finally realized that I wasn't going to move my tail from here, so she reluctantly gave up on her defiant stance against me. This dragoness was 500 years too early to try and confront me!

Poking her head out completely, she asked “Can you at least stop with this cold?”

“Sure.” I nodded and smiled.

The air would return to normal once the heat from outside was going to melt the ice that gathered on the inside. It was going to take at least two hours for this to happened, so I thought about changing the scenery a bit.

“How about we go for a flight and eat a few pieces of preserved meat?” I asked as I showed her my [Purse] ring.

This was the special one I was using, which could carry an entire warehouse of goods. I still had our traveling luggage with me, including her bags. Once I had finished my talk with her, I planned on giving them back. I saw no need in keeping a hold on them.

“Sure...” she replied with a nod.

Once she was out of her cocoon, I grabbed a hold of her and jumped out the window. The weather was nice and just perfect for a flight. So, I stretched my wings and flew. Several guards flew over and tried to stop us, but once they realized who we were, they let us pass.

I continued to fly until we reached a nice spot on the shore of the river that passed by Drakaria. I landed there and set up a small camp. The fire was up in a matter of moments and burning beautifully under night's starry sky. All I had to do now was to prepare the grill for the meat. Just in case, I made sure there were no monsters or other dragons around us. After all, I had no need of anyone who would spoil this moment after all the trouble I went to pull Seryanna out of her 'egg'.

“The meat will be done in ten minutes.” I let her know and then I walked up to her.

The dragoness was sitting on the shore of the river, watching the reflection of the two moons in the calm waters. It was almost the end of the dwarf month. I personally preferred their calender over ours. It was precise and easy to follow. Once the two moons were perfectly aligned with each other, I knew that one month ended and the next one began.

“Thank you...” Seryanna said after she let out a sigh.

“You're welcome.” I said and took a seat next to her.

Picking up a rock, I tossed it in the water, making it skip four times before it went under.

“Did you have a lover? Back in Zerudan?” she asked me.

“Hm...” I leaned back with my arms pressed on the ground and looked up at the sky. “A lover, huh?” I said and then closed my eyes.

I thought back at the time when I was still a Knight in the Zerudan army. There was someone I fancied too, after all, I may wield the element of ice, but in the end... I was still a dragoness at heart.

My last wish, eh? Yes, I have one... Aimed at a certain dragoness... If you are here, among this crowd, then know that I always loved you. That's why, from the bottom of my heart, I wish for you to be happy...

Those words... that scene... it returned to my mind like a bad joke memory.

It was the day I witnessed the execution of a brilliant dragon. He was someone who was found guilty by those with the so-called 'noble blood' flowing through their veins. When I cut them to pieces though, their blood was the same as a soldier's, nothing special about it. But yes, his crime... was made up because they feared him becoming more powerful than them. It was foolish. To survive, our kingdom required his strength, yet the King saw not his value, just the greed and envy of the nobles around him.

When his head rolled on the ground... so did theirs.

“Ah, I remember something unpleasant.” I sighed.

“Is that so... then why did you ask Alkelios to impregnate you?” she asked me.

“Ah, the egg business...” I said and closed my eyes again.

“For someone with your strength, that's not normal. You could have even asked of this from a prince.” she said and shook her head.

“Do you think his value would grow if his blood was said to be royal?” I asked her.

“Wouldn't it?” she asked me.

“Seryanna, you are very young, so you might not know this, but the higher on a pedestal a dragon puts the value of his blood, element, or the color of his scales, the lower his worth as a dragon becomes. What are we, Seryanna?” I asked her and then tilted my head at her.

“Erm... Knights?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“We are women.” I looked into her eyes.

“Women don't have strength, do they?” she looked down.

When I heard her say this, I couldn't help but laugh from the bottom of my heart.

“W-What? Did I say something funny?” she quickly asked.

“Yes.” I nodded and wiped a tear off.

“Explain.” she glared at me.

“One moment.” I said and got up.

I walked over to the cooking meat and turned it on the other side. Just a few minutes and we would have our meal. With a stick, I also stoked the fire a little bit, to make sure it was spread out nice and evenly. Afterwards, I returned to Seryanna side.

“Where was I? Ah, yes!” and then continued to laugh.

“Stop that!” she slapped my shoulder.

“Very well, but the answer is that we do.” I smirked.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

I smiled and then looked up at the sky.

“With a single kiss, we can topple countries. With a wink, we can change a King's mind. With a wave, we can shift history... If you know how to use this power and accept yourself, such things are not impossible.” I said.

“I don't understand.”

“Hm. There's a saying that goes like this: Fear not the King but his Queen, for whatever woman was able to steal his heart can surely turn the tide of war!” I then looked into her eyes.

Note from the author: Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! Oh, and be sure to check out my other stories too!

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